Story and Photos by Mario Luna
The city of Passaic thrives off its identity, being a diverse community, and much of it is clearly shown throughout the city, in different restaurants serving cuisine that originated from many places. Simply walking around the city you sense the many different nationalities that you get exposed to and maybe consumed as you walk the streets of Passaic. One of the biggest ways this city expresses itself is the art that pops up around. Walking down the streets it is not hard to find a mural here and one there, and although many residents of Passaic may walk by them without a second though, many of them represent a huge group of people and tell stories from different backgrounds and they represent a great deal of work, effort and talent.
This mural on the wall of the Mexican restaurant “El Jardin”, on the corner of Main Ave and Monroe, shows the true Mexican Beauty, the drinking culture of the country, as well as Mexican legends such as Frida Kahlo, a Mexican artist known for paintings such as Frieda and Diego Rivera, she was very well known for her self-portraits as well and has become a very recongnizable face in Mexico, mostly recognized by her eyebrows. This mural also includes Vicente Fernandez, a musical icon, a very well known music artist from Mexico with songs like “Si Te Vas No Hay Lio”, he is someone almost everyone from Mexico knows. The significance of this mural is to put on display what Mexican culture is about and show the colorful nature of the people of Mexico. There is a large Mexican population in the city of Passaic, and murals such as this one helps represent them.
The mural located on the side of Legur Auto and Tire shop, shows a Incan legend of Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo, a legend originating from the Incan Empire (now Peru). It is a story of the two children of Inti (the sun) who were sent to bring order and civilization to humankind. The two came from Lake Titicaca to create a city, that city being Cusco and the path created is known as the first Inka Road. This mural helps represent the different Hispanic cultures found in a small city like Passaic, as there is also a big Peruvian population in the city, and helps represent the people of Peru with this stunning mural. Displaying the legends created by civilizations centuries ago, it makes a person stop and look at the mural, learning the history of the stories left by the Incas.
The wall of art located on the side of Noble, a well known sneaker store in Passaic located on the corner of Jefferson Street and Hoover Avenue, does not represent a country or ethnicity, and it does not represent a singular person. It represents something that any person can be a part of no matter their color or where they or their parents may be from. This wall is covered in graffiti, a street art created in the 1960’s in the cities of New York City and Philadelphia.
Graffiti has helped immortalize many legends such as Phase 2 (Lonny Wood) known as the one that started bubble letters in this art. Graffiti was also the form of art that created the iconic Jean-Michel Basquiat who started off doing graffiti under the name SAMO. Basquiat is one of the best and most well known artists in modern pop-culture history and his origin was poetic graffiti around New York City. In this art, who you are and where you’re from does not matter, this wall helps represent that idea in Passaic, we are all a community. With the help of the wall we see different styles of tags, visuals of a spinning roller coaster, a character very reminiscent of the Joker, this wall is well-known in the city and it originates from a beautiful form of art.
As you go about your business in the city of Passaic, take the time to look around. There is so much art and culture around the city. So, get your eyes out of your phone and look at the passion for life that is all around us. The stories, cultures and passion of the people are literally written and painted on the walls of the city. It represents cultures and most importantly, it represents us and our city. The art of the people of Passaic.
